Sounds like some d-bag wanted to feel big in the pants. I'd turn around and sue him for wrongful arrest.

@dresden: As an addendum, I wonder if the TSA has offered him a job yet.

The assistant fire marshal then proceeded to remove all the R-rated DVDs from the store, replaced the "barely there" thongs with "hipster brief" three-packs and applied black tape over the dog private areas on all the 50lb bags of Dog Chow.

act like an adult in public then.

f*ck that!

What kind of off-duty fire marshal wears handcuffs in a Walmart? Remind me to keep my kids away from THAT guy.

I don't get how a fire marshal has any authority to arrest anyone who isn't violating a fire code or safety code ...you know, the only thing he has directive over...

LMFAO @ Dwight Shrute!!

While this is incident is absurd, so is the notion that people should be able to spout profanity wherever and however they want, without confrontation or consequence.

If you can't resist dropping F-Bombs in public, especially when you're around a bunch of strangers and children, you need to grow up and get a big-boy vocabulary.

Fucking assistant TO the Fire Marshall.

@Onion_Volcano: Um..as adults...we are allowed to use whatever type of language we would like. Not to say it isn't in poor taste but that's another issue.

Funny story: when I was a teenager, I worked at a golf shop. One the the employees had a standing bet that he could say "F.U. very much" very fast instead of "thank you very much" and the customer would never notice what he said. This crazy employee won lots of money from other employees over the years because no customer every noticed what he "really" said.

@Onion_Volcano: Yes sir, if you're someone living in a flat coastal region about to get hit by a tropical storm / potential hurricane and you head to the store to stock up on critical supplies, but they're out of stock, please act like an adult and proclaim "oh, raspberries!"

Look, if Cheney can get away with saying it on the Senate floor....then this is ridiculous.

ok, someone went way over the line, but srsly, folks. can we at least try to have a little class? it's rare for me to walk into a store these days & not hear someone on a four-letter tirade.

plus, the usage above seems completely out of place. shouldn't it be "they don't fucking have any more" or "they fucking don't have any more" or "fuck. they don't have any more." or the army version: "fuck. they fucking don't fucking have any fucking more battafuckingries. fuckers."

@Billy Gillispie's Unsigned Contract That May Soon Be Void: Fucking A.

@Onion_Volcano: Er. 1st Amendment kthx.

There was no intent to cause harm. It wasn't even directed towards an individual ...

@dresden: Isn't there a law that says it's illegal to curse in front of women and children? One of those stupid laws nobody abides by anymore?

@nataku83: RASPBERRIES OFFEND MY DELICATE SENSIBILITIES OGOD!

@adamczar: There may be a blue law somewhere about it, but freedom of speech protected just about all speech (exceptions are where speech is intended to cause harm like yelling fire in a crowded theater, or verbal threats of violence, etc)

Probably some ring wing Christian shouting "think about the children!" Sorry, a child hearing an F-Bomb isn't going to have any affect on their development in the least. Now, seeing a grownup attack another and bind them against their will while citing "morals and values" might have some negative ramifications.

@Dillon Barfield: *sigh*

This again.

Your first amendment rights are a protection against infringement by the government. When you're in a private store, on their private property, their rules apply.

Again, this was a stupid incident, but you don't have an inalienable right to free speech in Wal-Mart any more than you have the right to curse at me in my house. I'd kick you out...they can too.

It's considered a disturbing the peace charge here. If you do it at someone in particular, it's a minor assault charge. I know we've been forced to give up a certain amount of decency just because of the "times" I guess, but there is a pretty ridiculous amount of cursing in public. And of course you can't say anything about it without being a nazi of one sort or another.

Of course, if I went up to you and started cursing, or spoke to your child and started cursing, then it would be a huge ordeal. But to just yell out random vulgarities for hundreds of people to hear? Free speech!!!

@pecan 3.14159265: My guess is a citizen's arrest, which is very shaky legal ground in any jurisdiction.

Could also be covered under the term "Peace Officer" in that jurisdiction.

From Wikipedia: Modern legal codes use the term peace officer...to include every person vested by the legislating state with law-enforcement authority-traditionally, anyone "sworn, badged, and armable" but, basically, who can arrest, or refer such arrest for a criminal prosecution. Hence, city police officers, county sheriffs' deputies, and state troopers are usually vested with the same authority within a given jurisdiction.

@Billy Gillispie's Job Application:
The First Amendment says otherwise. So long as the usage didn't constitute fighting words, it's protected speech and punishment likely constitutes a First Amendment violation. A case came down in the Federal Appeals Court the other day holding a disorderly conduct charge, issued for flipping off a fellow motorist and a cop, violative of the Constitution because the act was expressive and didn't constitute fighting words. Wal-Mart should feel free to ask him to leave if he insists on being profane, but an arrest is over the line. It might not be "classy", you might not want your kids hearing it, but the constitution protects that shoppers ability, my ability, and your ability to say "Fuck, they're out of batteries" at Wal-mart without fear or arrest.

@cuchanu: Nice.

@mac-phisto: Yup, right on.

Cursing has become far too large a part of our everyday communications.

Like I said earlier, if you can't avoid cursing, it's time to grow up and get a big boy vocabulary.

@Billy Gillispie's Unsigned Contract That May Soon Be Void: Isn't the fire marshal acting on behalf of the local government? Otherwise, how would he write a citation, and how would this come before a judge? If this is the case, then I believe that the first amendment actually does apply.

She was arrested on a grammar violation.

She should have said "They don't fucking have any more."

It was criminal the way she misplaced her adverb.

@Billy Gillispie's Job Application: might have been the case 20, maybe even 10 years ago, but thats just not reality anymore. times change so should you or you will be assimilated.

@Spectre1125:

"Disturbing the Peace" is just a piece of crap law. Basically a catch all that allows authorities to bully the populace when they aren't really breaking any laws. "Oh...you are talking too loudly with your wife on your porch at 10pm? That's disturbing the peace buddy. Oh...you want to mow your grass at 8am...disturbing the peace. Oh...you are telling me you don't respect my authoritah? DISTURBING THE PEACE!"

@dresden:
"Decker took Fridge to his car, handcuffed her and wrote her a citation."

Pretty sure this could be a tort of false imprisonment right there. If he would have just written a citation and handed it to her, different story.

@mac-phisto:
I don't think it's classy either but I know for damn sure it's not illegal.

@Saboth: Spare use your "anything goes" morality. People should be able to go out in public without being peppered with profanity you won't even hear on TV. Just because you are willing to expose your children to bad language doesn't mean everyone should just stand by while you spout dirty words.

Freedom of choice comes with consequences - I don't have a kid, but if you were using profanity near him, I would ask you to stop. If you didn't for the sake of being obtuse, we could settle it in less civilized ways.

@Billy Gillispie's Job Application: And the fire marshall, in arresting her, was presumably a government agent who considered her to have broken a law by uttering said word.

The LAW she allegedly broke by cursing is the government infringement of her free speech right in question. The location is irrelevant except that it is a public place. You would only be correct if it was a Wal-Mart regulation she was alleged to have broken and/or a Wal-Mart employee who took the action. Since neither is the case, your correction was incorrect.

Assistant fire marshall? Since when are they deputized? Where I live if someone confronts me the first thing out of my mouth is "are you deputized in this county"?

If not I tell them to FUCK OFF and die.

@adamczar: so if you ARE a woman, I guess that means you can't curse at all because you'd be cursing in front of yourself?

@Billy Gillispie's Job Application: Without confrontation or consequence? I told a bunch of teenagers at a mall to stop swearing. I had my 4 year old with me. They apologized and stopped. If they hadn't, I would have probably had my friend remove my kid from the area as I would have kicked their asses.

This would have been my choice, resulting in probably a small fine. I would have paid with a smile.

I don't care if they do that when it's all adults, but not around a little kid. Definitely not around my little kid.

@Billy Gillispie's Job Application: Bullshit. Private property or not. One, there are no signs posted that say no profanity. Also, "assistant fire marshal who was near enough to overhear her", he was not am employee of Wal-Mart. So your argument goes out the window.

Also, last time I checked, that store, private or no, is located in the U.S. Where I have free-speech rights. Kick me out of the store? Ok. Arrested? You better get a lawyer.

@Billy Gillispie's Job Application: From the story:
"Alfred A. Decker IV, La Marque assistant fire marshal, cited Fridge on Aug. 4 when he overheard her utter the granddaddy of all expletives. Fridge, who was shopping for batteries with her mother and 2-year-old daughter ahead of Tropical Storm Edouard's landfall, said "They don't have any f------ more."

Decker took Fridge to his car, handcuffed her and wrote her a citation. City Prosecutor Jay Brown dropped the charge March 19, said interim City Manager Eric Gage."

The store did not request that she be removed, or ask to press charges. She was arrested when the assistant fire marshal (who, last time I checked, was a government official) overheard her comments. Thus, a person was arrested for what they said by a government official. That does make it a first amendment issue. Now, whether or not the woman arrested would have won the case due to obscenity standards is another story....

@Saboth: Your right to swing your fist ends at my nose. With freedom comes consequence, and like it or not, you can't just do whatever you want.

Let's see...in this thread, you've said there's nothing wrong with cursing in front of other people's kids, and now implied you should be able to make noise that bothers others, at any hour you deem reasonable...I bet you're a peach of a neighbor!

@cuchanu: awesome...

Just as an interesting note of context, this incident apparently occurred in La Marque. When people in the area refer to "the ghetto", they're speaking of La Marque.

Just sayin'

@kwsventures: Didn't they do that in "The Good Girl"?

@Esquire99: Wrong, the first amendment protects against government infringement of your right to free speech. Private entities, like Wal-Mart, have every right to restrict your behavior and speech while on their property, and ask you to leave.

Let's be clear: I'm not saying that's not what happened here. A guy (representing the government, not said private entity) stepped over his bounds.

My point is that in general, you can't just do what you want and say what you want when others are around. Your right to free speech is tempered by my right to not be verbally abused. Your right to free speech is also limited by the rules of private entities, on whose property you may find yourself.

As many of us learned in school, "your right to swing your fist ends at my nose".

@Billy Gillispie's Job Application:

Words are only dirty if you assign that value to them. Someone gives you the finger? You know they are just pointing a finger to the sky, right? The effect you let it have on yourself is totally up to you. If you let it throw you into a fury, you allow that person to have control over you. When I hear rednecks cursing at my local walmart, I shake my head and wonder about their upbringing. If I had a kid and someone were using language around them, I would say ignore it. Now, if someone is directing language at you in a threatening manner...that becomes assault, and is a different matter entirely.

@JohnDeere: It's unacceptable that it's not that way anymore. I don't care that you want to talk like T.I. and Jay-Z. Cursing in public is inappropriate in almost every circumstance, and on occasion, you will meet resistance if you choose to do so.

You make choices in life...prepare to experience the consequences of those decisions.

@5h17h34d: The United States has citizen arrest laws. Might want to check out your state in particular before you go balls to the wall next time you curse around the wrong person. Sometimes even if they can't arrest you, they can still legally detain you until police arrive.

If you're ever committing a felony, they are pretty much cops at the point they witnessed you doing it and try to arrest you.

@Saboth: Really? I read it was a left winger who believes in bigger government and less personal freedoms as the person who felt he had the right to infringe on this ladies constitutional rights. The same rights "right wing christians" seem to have a better understanding of then left wing "progressives"

Hahaha...p0wn3d.